On The Road Again
by WolvesKey
Summary: Harumi and Itachi were once friends. When Harumi returns from the Rain village as she does each summer, she soon hears the rumours of the Uchiha clans' massacre and that Itachi is responsible. Can love really transcend time? ITACHIxOC One-shot.


**A/N: Hello there! This is my first Itachi one-shot and I'm quite pleased with it :) This was a request from 'Mihashi-Harumi-Chan' on Quizilla. I typed this AGES ago and it's been on Quizilla for a LONG time, so today, I sat down and edited it. This version is definitely much better ;) I hope enjoy reading it!**

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><p><strong>DISCLAIMER: <strong>I do NOT own Naruto. If I did, well, it wouldn't drag on half as long as it has, there would be _no_ fillers and Sasuke would've been kicked off of his bloody pedestal by now ;)

"**On the Road Again"**

Harumi was humming to herself as she walked through the rather quiet forest on the borders of the Fire country, the day was warm-ish and the sun was shining, birds were singing and there was a small breeze in the air.

And she didn't have a care in the world.

Yep, life was pretty good, well, it was, but she was determined to make it better.

She wanted a happy future, with people she could count on as friends, a place she could relax and be herself.

Rare as that was, she was very determined to find that special place and call it 'home'.

Home…it had a nice ring to it, and Harumi found herself ever more eager to find that special place, maybe even a special someone, she giggled mentally as she faintly blushed.

She stopped humming and let a dreamy sigh pass her lips "Falling in love would be wonderful…"

She unprepared as the face of an old friend of hers from many years ago flashed across her memory, making her stop dead-still for a few moments, taking a deep breath, she continued walking down the dirt-path, not humming this time, her brow was furrowed in deep thought, wondering why she had to remember HIM.

He was the one that left, not her, he was the one that didn't even say goodbye, not her, and he was the one that killed his own family, not her.

Yes, she was thinking about Uchiha Itachi.

She shook her head furiously, knowing it was dumb in thinking of the past, yet, she couldn't help wondering whether she felt angry or sad after learning that he'd killed his whole clan apart from his younger brother; Sasuke and took off without another word to anyone.

It was something that she hadn't planned on returning too after living in the Rain country for so long with her younger sister and her aunt.

For most of her childhood she would spend moving from the Rain country to the Fire country, it was a seasonal thing that she had to uphold for a long time and didn't see any point in stopping it.

Her aunt and younger sister were the only family she had left, with her sister and aunt permanently remaining in the Rain country, she had opted to travel backwards and forwards between the two countries.

The urge to continue this tradition was made even stronger once she'd met and befriended Uchiha Itachi.

They always used to train, study and hang out together, there hadn't been anything more to it than friendship, although she did have a crush on him-though she hadn't been able to help it; he was quite handsome and very responsible-especially at the young age of thirteen!

Such responsibility was admirable.

Him being in the ANBU and her barely a Chuunin, she also found that inspirational about him, if he could become so strong at such a young age then she could easily become just as strong if she put her heart and soul into it.

Though she'd known for a long time that it'd been his parents that'd pushed him into training so hard and she remembered that although his mother had welcomed her with open arms, his father had remained cold and distant-almost unwelcoming to her.

Itachi seemed to be hiding something for a very long time; though she had the feeling he'd tell her when he was good and ready.

However, the sudden news that her childhood friend had done something that she had never thought would occur, even in her nightmares, had changed her opinion of him drastically.

At first she'd been in complete shock, unable to fully comprehend what he'd done, not only to her but to Sasuke as well.

The village had been in an uproar of gossip that she couldn't even walk down the street without hearing of the tragedy or Itachi's name shortly afterwards.

It'd broken her heart, not knowing why he'd done such a thing and what'd made him do it in the first place. That was when she began to make excuses for him.

Perhaps his parents had pressured him too much and it'd pushed over the edge?

But if that were the case then why did he kill the entire Uchiha clan and not his younger brother; Sasuke?

Eventually, her list of excuses and reasons ran out and she was left dumbfounded and confused as to what'd actually happened.

And who'd been the first one to tell her but the fifth Hokage, whom in Harumi's opinion was a brash and loud woman that needed to remember her place as leader of one of the biggest villages of the five nations!

The woman had been unsympathetic in revealing the event to her; it was crystal clear to Harumi that the fifth Hokage seemed to detest the Uchiha clan.

Upon the mention of Sasuke, she'd run to find him, and of course he was training on his own.

Unbeknownst to him, that had been where Itachi used to train with her and she had to admit, his fighting-style was very much like Itachi's, and that too had surprised her.

At first she'd stayed with Sasuke for a little while, though he didn't really care much for her, he especially didn't want to be near her since she had been more of his older brother's friend than she had ever been his.

It was then that she realised with an intense rush of anger and sadness that she no longer had any real friends left in both the Leaf and Rain villages, she no longer had any ties to keep her holding to the villages or their people anymore.

So, with that, she'd left with the determination of travelling around for a while and to just go wherever she felt like she wanted too.

This was also the perfect opportunity to train, even if she was by herself most of the time, she didn't mind, besides there was the odd traveler to have a brief chat with or a Ninja that would challenge her.

In fact she had it made, she wasn't really tied to any village, she was free to roam the countries and towns.

It was uncertain whether people remembered her from around and during her travels, but she certainly knew that only her younger sister was probably of the last remaining few that remembered her.

Over the next five years, Harumi travelled, though had made it back into the Rain village in-time for her aunt's funeral, her sister had been angry with her for leaving her all alone to deal with their aunts death.

Harumi had felt guilty and tried to apologise but her younger sister had no intention of forgiving her anytime soon and told her to leave after the funeral and to never return.

It'd hurt to hear such cruel words, but in the end, Harumi found scratching a line through her Rain headband and abandoning her younger sister much easier than she'd assumed it'd be.

Occasionally her thoughts returned to her sister as she wondered how her younger sibling was getting on in life and whether she was married yet, but those thoughts faded over time, instead, she filled her head with daydreams of a fairytale ending, where she would be travelling to next and which colour fabric would bring out her eyes.

She sighed and ran her fingers through her long, pale lilac hair, she had to admit she felt rather lonely, but she had no regrets in any of her decisions what so ever, she sometimes even wondered if Itachi remembered her?

Oh, of course she wasn't ignorant, she didn't pretend things never happened between them, for they were good friends at one point, maybe not best friends, but they certainly enjoyed each other's company, she knew he was alive and roaming around very much like she was doing right at that moment.

She heard rumours of him being a part of the criminal organization; 'Akatsuki', and it made her feel rather disappointed in him.

She could understand it if he left the country and went into hiding, but he'd done the total opposite and joined one of the most wanted organizations in the whole world; she had to shake her head slowly at that.

But then, why did that surprise her?

Well, she knew Itachi was made for big things; he was always the centre of attention when it came to his clan, if memory serves right he was always under the spotlight, and she knew that was another small reason why Sasuke hated his older brother, because he was jealous that Itachi got all the praise.

She'd even heard rumours that he flitted from here and there, appearing out of thin air and could easily make you fall unconscious within a flicker of his eyelashes, she had to smirk at that, yep, Itachi was still the same, always using his abilities to his advantage and overpowering anyone that got in his way.

When they were younger and used to hang out on random occasions, she'd always watch him train, just like Sasuke used too, she was always amazed by his sheer precision and how he was able to do almost everything without fail, she'd at one point felt a little jealous herself, and she'd always pushed herself secretly when training, hoping that one day she'd catch up with him.

Though that never happened, and it still hadn't, she was still a Chuunin, though she was almost at Jounin level, she only had to accomplish another jutsu powerful enough to prove that she was a Jounin, she was determined to make that happen, but then, where would she get herself known as a Jounin?

No one knew she was alive anymore, how long had she been travelling?

All of five years and some months she mused as she counted on her fingers, smiling to herself, she felt proud of her accomplishment, she was becoming more independent and the less people that knew she were alive-the better.

Obscurity had its advantages.

However, it was on this particular day that she'd recognized she was being followed, the chakra she was sensing was barely low enough to feel, whoever was following her had hidden his or her chakra very well, though she thought it felt rather familiar.

She shrugged it off for a time, heading along the path, determined to find a small river to dip her sore feet in and relax on the bank waiting until her body temperature had cooled down, she'd been travelling for many hours and it was starting to take its toll on her body.

An hour passed and although she still had no luck in finding that small river, she was still being followed.

In all honesty it was annoying her, whoever it was seemed determined to catch her off-guard and after another half an hour, it began to slowly creep her out, she may be strong, but she weren't that strong to defend herself against anyone of a Jounin level or higher-depending on the Ninja's skills and abilities.

Harumi glanced every now and then over her shoulder to see if she could catch any noticeable traits from her pursuer, but she found none, in fact, she found no one behind her at all, and at one point she gave a small sigh of relief once she'd felt the chakra had disappeared completely.

She smiled in triumph, and her ears almost twitched when she could faintly hear the sound of running water in the distance, which had her running for it, despite the fact she had sore feet and was feeling hot and bothered.

Only a few more trees! She thought happily to herself, and almost squealed in delight when she came out into a small clearing to find just what she was looking for, a lovely little river, and what's more, it looked very translucent, which meant it was probably one of the cleanest rivers she'd ever find out in a forest like this.

She eagerly took off her sandals and sitting down on the bank by the river, she carefully dipped her aching feet into the stream, she let out a long 'ahhhhhhhhh', feeling instant relief from her sore muscles, as she placed her shoes next to her.

She smiled dreamily to herself, her deep violet eyes staring up at the clouds above, watching the white fluff slowly moving through the sky, it made her feel so relaxed that she almost laid down and fell asleep, but one thing had her senses on alert once more.

Again, she felt that strange chakra, and she looked about herself curiously, she still couldn't see anyone about herself, not in the trees or on the ground, slowly she took out a couple of kunai, preparing herself for the inevitable.

It was only when she heard a twig snap to her right did she throw the two kunai in the exact direction, though she ground her teeth together when she heard the distant sound of them being deflected by another kunai, further into the forest.

Yep, she was definitely being followed and she didn't like it one bit.

Still, she remained where she was sat, knowing it'd taken her hours to find the river and she weren't about to give it up for no one, not even a Kage.

Faint footsteps resounded through the trees, making it almost sound as if they were hollow, she knew this was deliberate to make her let her guard down, her eyes darted about her, her hand slowly crept down into her pouch to grab a few more kunai, she looked up at the sky and saw it was darkened, as if there were going to be a storm coming at any moment.

She frowned, it was sunny a few moments ago, was this some sort of jutsu?

If so she couldn't figure out which it was, lightning? Wind? Water?

This time she stood up in the river, taking a stance she looked about her with a wary gaze, and for a moment everything was silent, the resounding footsteps had ceased.

She began to get impatient and just as she was about to get out of the river, the presence appeared directly behind her, causing her eyes to widen, she gasped as she turned her head to meet those same blood-red eyes that she had feared she'd meet again someday, even after all these years, those eyes still made her very nervous.

"Harumi-chan," his head nodded towards her in acknowledgement, seeming oblivious to her shocked expression, so he did remember her.

She faced him and stepped back from him slowly, suddenly very frightened about how she would defend herself against an Uchiha, it was just physically and mentally impossible, she may be good, but not that good-or rather, not as skilful as Uchiha Itachi.

"You're scared," he observed with those critical eyes of his, just like he always used too.

She grit her teeth together and lunged at him, preparing to stab him in the chest with her kunai, big mistake, she knew it as she pushed herself to him, almost forcefully, his eyes narrowed at her slightly, before he simply grabbed a hold of her wrist and stopped her body from moving any closer.

She was only a few centimetres apart from him, she took in a deep breath and forced her eyes to meet his, despite the fact she knew he had his Sharingan activated.

"That wasn't very nice and unwise, if anything you're more reckless than you used to be." He stated calmly, though his eyes looked cold and demonic, as if he was here just to remind her that she couldn't forget him so easily.

She suddenly bit her lip, it hurt, what he was stating appeared to be true, but actually, she wasn't that reckless; in most battles she was always carefully analysing what her enemy would do next and rarely made the first move.

Instead, she'd done the total opposite and allowed him to see her for what she used to be like, yet, if that were the case, then why hadn't he killed her yet? Why hadn't he laid any single attack on her so far?

She was defenceless in her position, he had the upper-hand, yet why didn't he take the opportunity and kill her?

Instead, he was just standing there calmly staring at her with those blood-red eyes of his, almost unfazed that she'd attempted to kill him moments before.

She narrowed her eyes at him and snapped "Why are you here Uchiha-san?"

His eyes widened a fraction at the tone of her voice, he thought she wouldn't speak to him, perhaps give him the silent treatment, though that weren't her plan, he grit his teeth slightly at how she'd addressed him.

"Please, call me Itachi? We used to be friends-" he started politely but she cut in, sending him a small glare when she struggled to remove her wrist from his hold, but alas, it didn't work, "Yeah, USED to be, so why are you here now? Why haven't you killed me yet?"

He stared at her then sighed, still not releasing his hold on her wrist, instead he sat down on the bank and pulled her down with him, she found the act very strange, it seemed as though he didn't want to fight her.

She begrudgingly sat down next to him without so much as another word, waiting for him to speak.

"I know this is sudden, but, I've been searching for you for a very long time. In the last few years, when I searched for you, everyone I spoke too had said you'd already left many months before or had died," he paused then turned his head to look at her, his Sharingan never retracted though, which made her wary, in her opinion he was still a wanted criminal, she wouldn't allow anyone to break her guard that easily, just by talking of the past.

"I am glad to know that the latter part wasn't true, I wanted to see you again, because…just of late I can't stop thinking of you…" he broke off, breaking their intense gaze; he stared down at her wrist, silently.

"Thinking about me? Now? Come on, you've been gone for years, why would you suddenly want to see me now?" She asked, a small snort sounding out, this just wasn't possible, she had a feeling he at least thought of her, maybe once since they last saw each other, but not this! It was just impossible!

"Because…In the last few years I have become _fond _of you...I couldn't stop thinking of you, what you were doing, who you were seeing, and then that made me mad, thinking of you with another guy, of you living a life I no longer had any stake in..."

She was speechless at his confession, his eyes, the way he spoke, the tone of his voice, he seemed very sincere in a longing way, if he wasn't Uchiha Itachi she would've believed him instantaneously, but because it is Uchiha Itachi she knew that she couldn't believe him.

"You no longer have the right to be in my life after what you did." Harumi forced herself to say, though she knew deep-down she didn't really mean, but it wasn't about what she wanted, she had to do the _right_ thing to prevent herself from being heartbroken later on.

"I suppose not, but what do _you_ think happened that night, Harumi-chan?" He looked at her, their eyes locked and because it was those damn Sharingan eyes that stared at her, she found herself unable to lie to him.

"I don't know. You took off without saying a word to me, Sasuke refused to acknowledge or talk to me about it. All I had to go on was what the fifth Hokage told me and she wasn't even in the village at the time it happened! Aside from that, only the rumours were my source of information and they changed each day."

Itachi became silent and she took this opportunity to continue "I tried to make up every excuse as to why you would do it, but none made sense, in the end, I gathered that it had to have been something astronomical to make you do what you did...but that doesn't mean that you're forgiven for it."

He merely blinked at her.

Harumi felt her anger and hurt bubble up within her "But why should I talk to you now? Do you honestly think after all this time that I'd easily forgive just because you _say_ you've been searching for me? You think we can be friends _just like that_? Well it doesn't work like that!"

She could feel the threat of tears well-up in her eyes and so she turned her head away, looking at anything but him, no longer caring if he were to kill her on the spot. She had nothing left to live for now.

"What I seek from you is not friendship, Harumi-chan." Itachi's voice suddenly broke the silence and had her eyes widen at the insinuation as to where this was going, lifting her head up, she stared at him curiously, seeing his emotionless face made her anger double.

But just as she was about to throw more harsh words and insults in his face, he interrupted her.

"I think…no, I _know_ I love you, Harumi-chan…" He stated almost shyly, a pink tint hitting his cheeks.

Okay, so it is possible, she thought semi-hysterically to herself, she couldn't believe it, was she dreaming, she MUST be dreaming!

She shook her head furiously and muttered "I think I'm dreaming, I'm probably asleep, there's no way Uchiha Itachi would say a thing like that!"

He lifted her head so that their gaze held, his hand clasped onto her chin firmly, a heavy blush seeped onto her cheeks at how close his face was to hers.

"I know I've done some terrible things…things that I'll never be forgiven for...and I realize that I don't deserve this, but I can be selfish too. That's why…that's why I wanted to find you, I want us to be together, Harumi-chan, but I can't do it by myself, I need to know if you feel the same?" He finished his statement with a question and as she stared into his mesmerising eyes she could see a kind of desperation written there. Something that she had never seen on his face before.

She sighed to herself; wasn't this what she'd always wanted?

A man to proclaim his love to her and literally sweep her off of her feet, deep-down in her heart, she regrettably knew that, yes, this has always been what she's wanted to hear from him.

There would be no reason for him to play mind-tricks on her, he stood to gain nothing from it but her heart and what was that worth in the world? It was meaningless in the way of the Ninja.

And weren't it she, who'd always wanted Itachi to acknowledge her?

Even now, as she sat closely next to him, to the man she should hate more than anyone else in the world, she still couldn't squash her intense feelings for him and it made her feel guilty.

Although she no longer belonged to any villages, she also hadn't betrayed them either, but doing this would put her in-league with him.

Did she really want to make her abandonment of both the Rain and Leaf village's official?

If she went along with this and anything happened to Itachi, something that couldn't be undone, or if he broke it off with her, then she'd be left on her own again, her heart broken by a criminal and she wouldn't be welcomed in any village, she'd also be a target to more Ninja's, most likely to use her as bait to capture Itachi.

And yet…even with all of those concerns and worries, she found herself unable to care.

She'd come this far, she'd already left the villages she'd once been tied down by and everyone she once knew behind, maybe this was what she was looking for? Perhaps this was her chance to find the 'home' she'd been looking for, for so long?

She gave him a nervous smile and muttered "This is rather unfair, Itachi-san, you jump out of nowhere and state that you love me, but this seems rather impossible to believe."

"I understand that it's rather sudden, whilst I've had years to become accustomed to these emotions, you've barely had any. I'm sorry, but now that I've finally found you, I have no intention of leaving without an answer. Do you know how hard it was to track you down? Barely anyone knew of your existence," he muttered in reply, she could hear the tiny flicker of humour etching his usually cold voice.

"If you don't feel the same and truly believe that there is no future for us, then I will leave and you will never hear from me or be bothered by my presence ever again." He voice became serious once more and there was an underlying promise to it that made Harumi panic slightly.

To never from him again? She didn't think she could handle that, it'd almost killed her the first time, she didn't think she could live through it a second time as well.

Rolling her eyes when she remembered the familiar grip on her wrist "Okay, okay, you can let me go, Itachi-san, I won't run off."

He didn't look convinced and she sighed mentally, he broke into her thoughts saying "First, I want to know what your answer is."

Her eyes widened slightly, before closing them, she knew that she had to tell the truth and what exactly was the truth exactly?

She didn't know whether she loved him as he said he loved her, but she was certain that what she felt was close to love, it would take a little time to be comfortable in his presence again, but she was sure that once she felt safe around him, then she'd be able to trust him and once she could trust him, she knew that she would love him.

Might as well go for it! She had been thinking a lot about him lately, often wondering if he thought of her as well. This was her one chance to tell him how she felt! On that last thought she answered "I wouldn't say its love, but I think it's leading up to that, given some time and once we get to know each other, I think I could love you too, Itac-"

She didn't get a chance to finish her sentence, for his lips were upon hers and surprisingly they felt soft and warm, despite his cold demeanour and hard personality, which made many wonder if he really did have a heart.

She couldn't help but trust his words of love for her, not only did it make her heart soar, but being kissed by none other than Uchiha Itachi, the man she had held in high esteem for years was now reciprocating her feelings.

Slowly her eyes opened, kissing him back with as much passion as she could muster, knowing this felt right and that she liked it, he released her wrist, the kunai dropped out of her hand and she linked her arms around his neck, bringing herself closer to him, not wanting him to let go.

However, they needed to breathe in order to live.

When he broke off the kiss, he stared into her eyes with something that looked very much like tenderness, but something else made her gasp, he'd retracted his Sharingan, just for her!

She unlinked one of her arms and let her hand trace up to his cheek, cupping it softly, she muttered "You have beautiful eyes, Itachi-san, these ones make you look more human, you should not have the Sharingan on so much, you could damage your eyes."

Unbeknownst to her, it was too late for that, but he didn't want to spoil the moment, instead he slowly broke away from her embrace and stood before her, his hand went into her long hair and stroked the silky strands softly as he muttered "Only around you will I have my eyes looking like this, no one else."

She smiled at him warmly, happy enough to hear that, yet she couldn't resist testing him to see if the real Itachi was still in there somewhere.

"Itachi-san, could you perhaps help me become a Jounin? I'm almost there; I just need the extra-practise, please?"

She made a puppy-face and at first she thought her ears had deceived her, for she could almost have sworn she heard him chuckle, before answering "Sure, but I have to go now, before he grows wise, I'll meet you in the next town to the east, how about that?"

Her face dropped slightly and her mind pondered on who this 'he' could be, but hearing that she would see him again soon and that he agreed to help her train made her forget all about the concern and feel happier than she had been in a long while.

It seemed that her Itachi was still there, despite how many years had passed and all that had transpired.

"The Market Town?" She questioned.

He nodded once; bending down to kiss her quickly on the lips and stated "I bet I can get there before you ever could."

She jumped up, determination firing up her eyes as she stated with a careless flick of her long hair "Nah-ah! I'll be there before you!"

His dark eyes gleamed at her in humour "What is the wager?"

She gave him a sly smile and answered "Whoever gets there first will have to pay for dinner!"

He smiled to himself and turning slightly, he stated "You'd better get your money out and ready then."

She went to hit him lightly but he merely chuckled and disappeared in a cloud of smoke, making her laugh and shout out to no one in particular "No fair! I WILL win!"

She could almost swear he chuckled again, but gathered it was probably her mind playing tricks on her.

Putting her shoes back on, she picked up her kunai and placed them back in her pouch, the dark clouds were already dispersing, the sun began to shine through and she smiled happily, this time whistling as she went on her merry way to the next town where he said they'd meet, she decided she was going to win their wager.

No matter what it took.

***The End***

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><p><strong>AN: And there you have it. I am currently editing and typing an Itachi lemon one-shot which should be done at some point, so keep an eye out for that if you're an Itachi fan and love those bitter-sweet lemons :) Oh wait, we're **_**not**_** talking about the fruit? O.o **

**!REVIEWS ARE APPRECIATED!**


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